Episode 313. You Are a Fine Martial Artist.
Is this the kind of moment that calls for boundless emotion?
It is my achievement to have degraded the lecher from my previous life to nothing more than a filthy womanizer.
It may seem like the same thing, but they are clearly different.
If that bastard were actually still acting like a lecher right now, he would have died on the spot from the combined assault of the Fist King, Blade King, and Alliance Leader. Watching him, of all people, face the match with such a serious attitude, I laughed inwardly.
'You foolish bastard, not even realizing your fate has changed.'
As the standoff between Saekma and I Geunak dragged on, my thoughts inevitably stretched on as well.
Suddenly, Saekma opened his mouth first.
"I Geunak, you cannot defeat me in a martial arts match. If this were a life-or-death duel, I wouldn't know the result. But this is my conclusion. I shall give you a chance to surrender."
I Geunak laughed.
"I thought you were deep in thought, but you were lost in delusion."
Saekma looked at Alliance Leader Im Sobaek.
"...Alliance Leader, for a proper victor to be decided, one side must suffer a grave injury. How about making falling off the dueling stage the condition of victory this time?"
Im Sobaek asked I Geunak,
"Will that be alright?"
I Geunak nodded.
"He's already fallen off once before. How hard could it be?"
Im Sobaek extended his hand.
"Let's do it that way."
It seemed Saekma was cooking up a scheme.
I was reminded anew that he was a sly bastard. But even I couldn't predict how Saekma would knock I Geunak off the wide dueling stage. Because from start to finish, the one who had been running away was Saekma.
I Geunak approached Saekma.
"You're relying on your qinggong..."
Before I Geunak could even finish, Saekma rushed in. As I Geunak's fist flew as if to shatter Saekma's skull, Saekma tilted his head back and knocked I Geunak's arm aside. Then the two quickly clashed with their fist techniques and Geumna Hand Technique. Saekma moved mostly by redirecting I Geunak's attacks. Each time, Saekma's filthy hand touched I Geunak's wrist, forearm, and fist.
Only then did I grasp Saekma's intent.
'So it's an overlapping Ice Technique.'
Truly, a choice befitting the Ice God.
To begin with, I Geunak had properly mastered the Fist King's body protection technique, so he wouldn't kneel from ordinary strikes.
Saekma appeared to be trying to stack overlapping Ice Technique inside I Geunak's body.
But would that work so easily?
Given the high level of I Geunak's body techniques, it was a strategy that would only work on the assumption that Saekma wouldn't get caught until the very end.
If he were ever caught by the shoulder, it was highly likely that Saekma would be the one sent flying far off the dueling stage by I Geunak's external arts and body techniques.
At one point, a sound like a tearing drum rang out, and Saekma—who had barely blocked I Geunak's fist with his palm—was sent flying to the edge of the stage. But he stepped one foot back, stamped the ground, and soared into the air.
Then, I Geunak's one-sided beatdown began.
Once I Geunak, who had been fighting with only his two hands until now, began using leg techniques, Saekma staggered with every kick he blocked.
Since I Geunak used grappling and leg techniques simultaneously, Saekma was driven into a defensive position. But strangely, Saekma defended most attacks with his hands.
He would get hit by a kick, strike the ground, and get back up.
He blocked knee attacks with both hands before being pushed back, blocked fists with his hands, and whenever the chance arose, redirected I Geunak's attacks with his Geumna Hand Technique. At one point, after crossing both arms to block I Geunak's kick, Saekma's complexion turned pale.
The moment I read Saekma's expression, I asked,
"What? Feel like your forearm is going to break?"
"......"
I had never seen a martial artist who only defended and then coughed up blood, but it felt like Saekma would show me that before long.
'This stupid bastard is simple-mindedly strong.'
But Saekma was a persistent bastard; his face slowly twisted into a constipated expression, and he charged at I Geunak again. Witnessing I Geunak shake his head slightly, I inwardly thought, 'Uh-oh.'
'Is this stupid bastard letting his guard down?'
If it had been me fighting, I wouldn't have let my guard down. But I Geunak seemed to think that Saekma might die trying to block his fist, and somehow the power of his punches wasn't the same as before.
Dear god...
He's going to go easy on him like this?
This isn't right.
Suddenly, Saekma halted his attack, retreated, and looked at I Geunak with a hardened expression.
"...Hey bastard, are you not going to take this seriously?"
I Geunak answered.
"Young Master Mong, do you wish to die?"
The Blade King, who had been keeping silent, interrupted.
"Geun-ak, he is not someone who will die easily. No matter that this is a righteous path martial arts match, your attitude is improper. In the murim, you cannot survive with such soft-hearted thoughts. Etiquette is to give your all, whether that means inflicting a severe injury or knocking him unconscious. When skills are somewhat evenly matched, avoiding injury is difficult."
I Geunak looked at the Blade King.
"Yes, Senior."
Saekma cursed under his breath and advanced.
"This arrogant bastard..."
The two clashed again. With Saekma's hands now as fast as his footwork, several palm strikes landed on I Geunak's body.
Since there was little sense of impact, perhaps it was more fitting to say that Ice Technique had penetrated rather than that the strikes had truly landed.
Saekma was not inferior to I Geunak at all in terms of speed, not only in his footwork but also when executing his palm techniques.
Swinging his fists fiercely as if completely unaffected by the blows, I Geunak eventually grabbed Saekma by the collar with his left hand.
Startled, Saekma raised his left hand to block I Geunak's fist.
Thwack! With that sound, Saekma, who had been rolling on the ground, rose with a disgruntled face and sneered at I Geunak.
"Heh heh."
Instantly riled up, I Geunak rushed in again; this time, his large frame was somewhat infused with excited emotion.
At close range, Saekma suddenly spat out the blood he had been holding in his mouth.
Ptui!
The blood sprayed out and covered I Geunak's eyes.
"Ack!"
Then, Saekma's sly palm strikes landed heavily on I Geunak's chest, shoulder, and abdomen, and he continuously pressed various vital points with his finger techniques.
Tadadadak!
Saekma possessed an unusually vicious disposition as well; even amid this, he didn't bother blocking the incoming fist and continued pressing with his finger techniques.
In the end, I Geunak's fist reached right in front of Saekma's face and stopped, as if it were a lie.
"......!"
He appeared frozen due to the accumulated overlapping Ice Technique.
"Tweh!"
Saekma spat out the blood remaining in his mouth onto the floor and kicked I Geunak's side with his left foot.
With a thud—I Geunak flew outside the dueling stage...
Saekma let out a scream as well.
"Auugh......"
Saekma collapsed in an awkward, staggering posture and caressed his own foot. Even though he had clearly infused the kick with internal energy, he was feeling pain.
Im Sobaek and the Blade King turned their heads and looked at each other.
“Absurd.”
“Indeed.”
The Lecher limped to his feet and asked Im Sobaek.
“Alliance Leader, I won, didn’t I?”
When Im Sobaek only stared at him in silence, the Lecher slowly turned his head.
Yi Gunak was already standing behind him with a furious expression. He had recovered in the meantime and approached.
In truth, if this had not been a sparring bout, the real fight would have begun now.
The Lecher flinched in alarm and backed away.
“You scared me. What? What is it? The bout is over.”
Yi Gunak looked at Im Sobaek with a baffled expression.
“Mmm.”
Im Sobaek said,
“Gunak, you should have learned what happens when you let your guard down, so that is enough. A promise is a promise.”
“Is that so?”
“If he had chased after you at once and thrust a dagger into you, would you have had time to stop it?”
Yi Gunak nodded, then looked at Im Sobaek.
“I see. Alliance Leader, I lost. I never expected he would use a technique that made blood burst from his eyes in a sparring bout.”
The man, who had lost yet did not seem to have lost at all, forced down his anger. He was not the fool from my previous life for nothing.
The Blade King also consoled the defeated Yi Gunak first.
“Gunak, there are many more despicable bastards in the murim. Think of this as a good experience.”
“Yes.”
Beside him, the ugly excuse for a victor was wiping the blood from his mouth.
For some reason, if he were told to beat Yi Gunak again, he looked as if he would collapse sick on the sparring platform, but in any case, the Lecher had won.
Since no one was praising the Lecher, I was the only one who gave him a halfhearted round of applause.
“Wow, that was incredibly despicable. As expected of Mongrang of Baekeungji. A despicable victory, a base strategy, a master of petty tricks, filthy spitting, the triumph of an expert in street brawls.”
The Lecher looked at me.
“Shut up.”
“It was praise, so why the hell are you throwing a fit? You won, didn’t you?”
“I won, but I’m not happy.”
“As long as you know.”
Only then did Yi Gunak throw his head back and burst into laughter. His voice was already like a tiger’s roar, so his laughter rang out thunderously.
Im Sobaek said,
“Go in and rest. More Kings will arrive tomorrow. If you want to gain more experience, you must rest properly.”
Im Sobaek said to the Blade King,
“You should rest as well.”
Once Im Sobaek left first, the atmosphere became truly awkward. After all, everyone was headed to Wolhagwan.
When I turned my head anew, Ghost Demon seemed to have been watching the sparring bout without saying a single word.
“Let’s go.”
I headed to Wolhagwan with Ghost Demon first. When we had gone some distance, Ghost Demon opened his mouth.
“He’s incredibly strong.”
“Yi Gunak? He’s the Fist King’s disciple, so of course he has to be strong. What were you thinking as you watched?”
“That my sword kept breaking?”
I nodded.
Ghost Demon had seen it accurately. The Fist King becomes even stronger after seizing or breaking his opponent’s weapon. Psychologically, those who have had their weapons taken from them cannot help but shrink back even more. That is why he originally knows many techniques for taking weapons as well.
The sparring bout had been between Yi Gunak and the Lecher, but the spectators had also gained much from it.
When I suddenly looked back, Yi Gunak and the Lecher were following while softly exchanging words of reproach with each other. Since they were brats, it was not a particularly strange sight.
I had also just had a bout with the Blade King, so I quietly entered my room and lay down on the bedding.
Strangely, in this bout, I thought Yi Gunak had gained more. The Lecher’s spitting would not work again, and if Yi Gunak, having suffered from the ice arts, revised his strategy, things would become even more difficult for the Lecher. In other words, it had been quite a valuable defeat. Just as the Blade King had said, he would not be caught by a similarly despicable bastard again.
I was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought, when a sound came from the stairs and someone knocked on the door.
“Gate Master.”
“Speak.”
“The Alliance Leader says he would like to see you for a moment.”
“He should have called me earlier… Let’s go.”
* * *
I followed the Alliance member through the Alliance Leader’s Hall. I wondered where we would meet, but seeing as we went deep inside, it seemed to be the Alliance Leader’s office. The guards waiting in the Alliance Leader’s Hall neither greeted me nor acted as if they knew me.
When we arrived in front of the office, the Alliance member reported.
“I have brought the Hao Gate Master.”
“Come in.”
The Alliance member opened the door and looked at me.
“Please enter.”
For the first time in my life, I looked around the office of the Murim Alliance Leader. It was not as large as I had imagined, and there were not many furnishings either. It was merely closer to a private room well suited for giving and receiving reports.
My gaze naturally went to the wall.
There were several weapons displayed, so I asked the Alliance Leader,
“Do you use all of them, Senior?”
Im Sobaek answered,
“Does it look that way?”
“It does not.”
There were not only swords, but also a halberd, a saber, twin swords, and a curved saber with an unusual blade shape that seemed to have come from Tibet.
Im Sobaek also looked at the weapons.
“Some were gifts, some are weapons that lost their owners, and some were left behind when seniors retired. There are also weapons that previous Alliance Leaders used before donating them, perhaps after losing interest.”
As I was looking over the weapons, someone spoke from outside.
“Alliance Leader, did you call for me?”
“Come in.”
When I looked toward the entrance, Gongsun Wol appeared and paid his respects to the Alliance Leader.
“Alliance Leader.”
Gongsun Wol looked at me.
“Gate Master, it has been a long time.”
I returned the greeting and answered,
“Strategist, welcome.”
Im Sobaek asked Gongsun Wol,
“The Blade King and the Gate Master crossed hands. Are you aware?”
Gongsun Wol nodded.
“Yes, I already received the report and recorded it. As a draw…”
“A draw with the Blade King? Then would the Gate Master’s rank not rise quickly?”
Gongsun Wol nodded, wearing an expression that showed he did not understand what he meant.
“I suppose it would?”
“Delete it. The bout never happened.”
“Understood. But is there a particular reason?”
“The Sect Master doesn’t want it. Even if there are other sparring matches, there’s no need to record them additionally. See that his ranking is raised deliberately slowly as well.”
Gongsun Wol looked at me.
He was looking at me with eyes that seemed to say, What the hell is wrong with this bastard? Since he was staring a bit too blatantly, I opened my mouth.
“What are you looking at?”
“A-ah, nothing. Alliance Leader, do you have any further orders?”
When Gongsun Wol looked at the Alliance Leader, Im Sobaek shook his head.
“Delete the part about him killing the Number One of the Unorthodox Path at Dongho as well. If the Sect Master’s ranking rises too much, report it separately. To do that, you’ll have to treat the rankings of those traveling with him similarly too.”
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
After Gongsun Wol left, Im Sobaek said,
“Will that do?”
“Yes.”
Im Sobaek had not forgotten the request I had made before, while counting the stars. Even so, I found it a little hard to understand why he had called me all the way here and even summoned Strategist Gongsun to handle it.
“How was it, crossing blades with the Saber King?”
“Frustrating.”
“The Saber King said the same thing. He’s a man with strong pride.”
“I imagine so.”
“When we were to fight again after dinner, perhaps because of that pride, he said he would have to take one of your arms. He said that was the only way he could win. Of course, he likely said that because you weren’t there.”
“And what did you answer?”
Im Sobaek looked at me.
“……I answered that if one of your arms were lost, it would be a great loss to the Orthodox Path.”
“…….”
Well now, this man.
He kept lifting people up and dropping them again.
“It would be quite a great loss.”
“I think so too. I flattered the Saber King a little. I asked him, Are you truly going to go that far? And he just kept sighing.”
“So that’s what happened.”
Im Sobaek suddenly made a face as if holding back laughter, then sipped the tea on the table. Something seemed to amuse him, but I had no idea why he was laughing.
Im Sobaek said,
“You are an excellent martial artist.”
“All of a sudden?”
“That unwavering mindset of yours will make you even stronger. It seems meeting women is out of the question for the time being, so focus only on training.”
I wondered what kind of bullshit this was.
But thinking about it, it seemed he had needlessly called out Gongsun Wol, who was also the greatest beauty in the Alliance, just to observe my expression.
I was experiencing the strange sensation of having the words, You are an excellent martial artist, interpreted as mockery. I returned the same words to this hopeless old bachelor.
“……You are an excellent martial artist as well, Alliance Leader.”
Im Sobaek suddenly spat out his tea.